Currin’s Apparent Normality L. Lee Byars JohnCurrin’s art exhibits are meaningless. This is true. Ask anyone. But to quote Woody Allen, “as meaningless experiences go, its pretty damn good”. This quote constantly runs through my mind as I browse through Currin’s works in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. This is Currin’s genius or lack […]

Pieces of Mona Leeann Cannon MonaHatoum exudes complexity, and her artwork follows suit. She has been shocking audiences with her unique pieces since the early 80’s. Over the years, she has carved a permanent place for herself in the contemporary art world and has unveiled her latest creation, entitled Here is Elsewherestyle=’font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana’>, at the Museum […]

Out of Time: Morton Feldman’s String Quartet II Scott David Briggs Ifirst became aware of Morton Feldman about ten years ago, when the Village Voice did a feature on him and his friendship with John Cage that left me intrigued by both their personalities. Who the heck was Morton Feldman, I mused to myself. Who […]

Putting it Together Again: New Work by AJ Nadel Vivek Narayanan Inhis most recent work, New York-based AJ Nadel continues to explore popular representation, sexuality and the ways in which we look at and respond to the human form. Nadel’s unusual and intriguing photo collages interweave a number of different materials colored paper, photocopied documents, […]

Unpopular Authorship: The Drawings of Jim Shaw Greg Purcell To callJim Shaw or any artist of his generation a neo-Pop artist is to do adisservice. Sure, like all of us, he dreams Pop, swims in the movies, and markstime by the covers of magazines and comic books. His intention, however, is notto give the larger […]

Hero / Anti-Hero : Barney vs. Friedman and Vice Versa Derek White Matthew Barney and Tom Friedman are both living contemporary American artists in their late 30s. Barney’s work is monumental and grandiose, while Friedman tends toward the anti-monumental and introverted. But if we can get by this difference, and points of divergence in methodology, […]

The many faces of Cocteau Danielle O’Steen JeanCocteau (1889-1963), the multi-talented French poet, writer, critic, filmdirector, and artist, is also remembered as the ultimate Parisian socialiteconnected to the glamorous of early and mid-20th century Europe. ThePompidou Center of Paris is honoring this eclectic figure through January 5th with "Jean Cocteau, Spanning the Century", a retrospective […]

Dragan Ilic and the Five Hundred Pencils Nina Zivancevic and Leonard Abrams    Dragan Ilic’s recent exhibition of drawings is the radical controversial artist’s first solo show since 1985, and it presents a set of unique approaches to the very idea of draftmanship. One work is a large-scale, many-lined, abstract drawing, resembling a radical musical […]

Notes on Soho Richard Kostelanetz In my memoir SoHo: The Rise and Fall of anArtists’ Colony (Routledge), I conjectured that the South-Houston neighborhoodwould survive as an art-exhibition venue only if the artists remaining in SoHomade their own galleries, perhaps in their own lofts, much as they did beforethe professional gallerists invaded. The practical obstacle to […]

Big Themes for This Year’s Turner Sonia Rolak Fundamentalsubjects are in vogue in the contemporary arts; many artists worldwide areelaborating on and seem to be particularly fascinated with the most spectacularand final of them all: Death.   InLondon, for instance, four artists shortlisted for the yearly Turner Prize aretackling the "big" life subjects with a […]